Nottingham-based menswear imprint Universal Works has launched the latest instalment of its ongoing Future Friendship series. Teaming up with Karhu, the collaborative project celebrates both the Finnish label’s sportswear heritage and a philosophy of working with like-minded individuals who share the same authentic values.
The collection features reimagined versions of the classic Mestari Control and Trampas footwear styles in super soft suede and nylon, as well as a compact clothing capsule that includes a range of easy-to-wear sporty separates. Arriving in a unified muted colour palette, standouts include a lightweight running jacket, dual-branded tee and loopback cotton crewneck set, all of which all printed with the Universal Works’ Future Friendship and Karhu logos.
“Initially, we wanted to collaborate with Universal Works on two colours of the Trampas—a Karhu training shoe from the 1960s that fits that never ‘over-designed’ philosophy of Universal Works,” says Remko Nouws, global brand manager of Karhu. “We proposed to change one of the Trampas colours to another running classic—one of Karhu’s most famous silhouettes, the Mestari. In this case, we changed the design to a bigger, blown-out sole unit to be inline with the contemporary style of Universal Works. This was the moment that the Mestari Control was born, and the final result looks incredible!
“When it came to the branding, we turned our M-logo on the lateral side of both shoes upside down to create a ‘W’, referring to Universal Works. This is something Karhu has never done in its 107 years existence, but felt like a true fit for the Future Friendship Project. Overall, we are so excited about this project and we can’t wait for it to be on the feet of Universal Works and Karhu fans, friends and family.”
The Universal Works x Kahru collection is available from here and here.
